Tuesday, October 12, 2010

ARToberFEST is this weekend! I hope you all plan on coming out to see us. I've just finished putting up quite a bit of new stuff on our website...just in time for the show...so get down to Galveston this weekend for the best art show around!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

A sentimental piece made by hand of pure silver. The pendant, including the bail, measures a hefty 1-3/4" long and is suspended from a handmade silk string. The cinnamon color of the silk string is a perfect compliment to the striking color of the Sleeping Beauty turquoise cabochon. There is a small heart in the center back with the inscription "always & forever" directly above. The front of the heart is textured and patinaed and the heart has an overall matte finish, as does the bail and "S" hook. The handmade silk string feels heavenly around your neck. You may, of course, adjust the length by simply re-tying the knots. By Lisa.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Get ready to join us again
this year at ARToberFEST 2010! Come out and spend the day browsing
and shopping the best fine art in the area.
We are busy getting ready for the show and hope to see you all there.
Sincerely, Lisa and Shauna, Alone Star Jewelry

For online ordering, visit alonestarjewelry.com.
If you would prefer to order by phone, please call 832-330-8613.

Wednesday, August 04, 2010

I fell in love with these earrings the moment Shauna showed them to me this past weekend! They are so shiny and the free-moving flowers add just the right bit of color and contrast - so perfect with the vine swirling in the background. What a wonderful pair to add to your collection!

Each earring features three free-spinning flowers made by hand of copper, bronze and fine silver. The background disks with vines and leaves are also made of fine silver. All components of these sweet earrings are oxidized to highlight the relief. The disks measure about 1-1/4 inches in diameter; height of earrings (from the top of earwire to bottom of earring) is 1-3/4 inches. Designed and made by Shauna.

Monday, May 24, 2010

A handmade waxing crescent moon of .999 fine silver, patinaed to perfection so that the crescent moon is highlighted. The moon is nestled amongst coin-shaped moonstone beads, which are split into double strands. Each end is completed with faceted Raven's Wing fresh water pearls. Sterling silver lobster clasp. Length: 19". By Lisa.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Twist things up a notch with this gorgeous turquoise necklace! We've taken eye-catching turquoise twisted beads and strung them on Irish waxed linen, along with small turquoise rondelles to create a timeless look. This necklace is 42" long so you can easily wear it two ways: one long, swinging necklace or wrap it around your neck twice for a classic look. Finished with a sterling silver lobster clasp closure.

And when you're finished twisting things up, match it up with a pair of earrings! Bali-style sterling silver headpins loaded up with beautiful blue and sea green turquoise. Three turquoise twisted beads on each earrings, set off with little turquoise rondelles. Length: 2-1/2", including earwires.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

This piece takes me back to the days when I would rummage through my Mom's jewelry box and see all of the beautiful treasures inside sparkle back at me. Every little girl loves to wear her Mom's jewelry and to pretend to be just like her! We have been enjoying glorious spring weather and the blues in this necklace reflect the lightness of springtime. Blue opal tube beads, blue and teal green topaz gems mixed with freshwater pearls, all shown off in three sets of handmade charms on a sterling silver cable chain with sterling heart lobster clasp. Length: 22". Designed by Lisa.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Shiny discs with a textured cross that is patinaed to perfection! The edges of the cross extend over the side of the disc, adding a nice finishing touch.

These earrings weren't started out with the intent of having them directed at any specific meaning but, instead, were an exercise in mirror finishing and including a texture to amplify the mirror finish. Looking at the image here, it appears to have a matte finish but does not. Sometimes photography is exasperating!

Each earring measures just under 1" in diameter and are feather light. Sterling silver earwires.

I wanted to share with you my latest creation. This is, by far, my favorite pendant of the season! The design for this pendant is our great Texas flag and my goal was to create a pendant that you wouldn't find anywhere else. So many Texas jewelry pieces look the same and we really try to keep our designs fresh and different. I used texture to make the sections of the flag stand out and borrowed the Alone Star shape for the star, setting a blue topaz right in the center. Blue topaz is the State stone so that part was easy! The pendant is gently curved from top to bottom so that it presents itself beautifully and catches just enough light to draw attention. A minimal patina was used to make the texture stand out and then I completed it with a matte finish, front and back. A curved tube bail was used for the sterling silver snake chain to glide through and a sterling lobster clasp secures it around your neck. The overall length of the necklace is just shy of 24". There are only two of these beauties in stock so hurry before they are snapped up!

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Working with Cold Connections

Well here we are in a brand new year! It's hard to believe that Christmas went by so fast and Valentine's Day is just around the corner! I must admit that I've had a harder time this year getting back into the swing of things after the holidays. It would seem that I didn't get enough R&R time or maybe I realize the importance of having time to yourself to just piddle around or sneak in some more quality time with your family. It always goes by much too fast! But, having said that, it is the new year so move forward we must. I've never been good at forcing myself to sit down and just produce something new and fabulous (written with a smile!). No, I'm more the type that thinks on designs and then runs to grab my sketchbook to draw something down before I forget it! It's the inspiration in me and I can feel when it's waning and when it's kicking into high gear. It's a great feeling when it kicks into high gear because when that happens, I normally spit out several pieces all at once. I'm right in the middle of a high gear period and wanted to share a few new creations.

Shauna has previously talked about cold connections in our blog and it must have had a subconscious effect on me because that's the direction I have gone! I really like mixing media and have done so again with three of these new pieces. For example, the Corset brooch (shown above) is cinched up with blue Tenara (Gore-Tex) thread and adorned with tiny freshwater pearls.

The In Stitches brooch (below at far left) connects Argentium silver wire with waxed linen, and finally, the Laced Up brooch features braided gold Strinth cord. It's also new for us as these are our first brooches! I also tossed in a couple of other pieces to round things out. The Silver Band is a simple but classic wrapped ring that is held snugly together with a piece of Argentium wire that has been balled up on each end. The ring didn't need anything else, in my opinion. In this case, less is more! The Just Fun earrings are a work in textures where the design flows from one earring to the next, making each earring unique. These earrings are made up of independent pieces - domed discs, flower and heart, which spin freely on the handmade earwires that connect them altogether.

Well, that's going to wrap up this newsletter for this season. Stay tuned for more new pieces coming your way! May you all have a blessed 2010!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

As promised earlier, here is a picture of the shorter Leaf Drop earrings, made from a bronze leaf disk that was formed from my own design mold. We sold several pair of the longer version at the recent Galveston show, but many asked about making them shorter, so here is what that looks like. My mother-in-law, at about 5' in height, never wears earrings that dip even 1/2-inch below her lobe! Lisa will make one of her professional-looking shots very soon and these will be placed on the site aside the long version, seen below. The wire is sterling, as is the connecting bead and earwire.

Here is another something new, Longhorn earrings. I had 2 pair at the Mary Queen bazaar and sold both; one to a woman who owns a longhorn ranch in the hill country. I have only a drawing to post here, since I foolishly failed to photograph them--which tells you how hot off the bench they were. I am going to make more very soon. They measure just over an inch at the widest, and the longhorn diamond shape swings freely inside. The design on the outside diamond is oxidized. It may seem hokey to put up a drawing, but I have ulterior motives. I will always remember the wise words of an old friend: "If you want to get something done, tell someone you are going to do it." Thus you are bound to the task! I wouldn't like waiting too much longer to get my new plans completed and on the website. It is not easy to get cranked up again after Christmas, hard as it is just to get back into the regular routines of working and caring for house & home, much less a "second job".

Here, too, are a couple of shots from the Bazaar, since we always like to publicize our shows. We had a great show here this year, best ever for us at MQ. Very happy about that.

Saturday, January 09, 2010

Yes, the Longhorn game is behind us, the Christmas decor is packed away and routine is slowly reasserting itself. Last night I got my workroom organized once again so that the drawings in my sketchbook have a chance to morph into the real thing.

This year I will continue making earrings, seemingly my favorite item, but will push into making rings. Rings have been on the back burner for a long while and it's time to try my hand at them.

I had not made a new necklace in a while until coming up with this new one, seen above: Lisa is photographing it to put on the site but here is my amateur effort so you can see it. I sold the first one of these, fresh off the bench, at the Christmas bazaar in December, and have one more. It's assembled with cold connections except at the clasp where jump rings are soldered. I could have soldered the jumps at the pendant, but I didn't want to risk heating the bronze (cool gel might have worked) because it would have turned the color of copper. The customer who bought the necklace said she liked cold connections better, however, thinking they are stronger. I can't argue that point. See the website soon for pricing and more details.

The necklace does match the Leaf Drop Earrings already at the online store, but I made a shorter version of these earrings. I will comment on those and post a photo in my next blog entry. For now, though, Lisa will put up a photo of a new pair of earrings to complement the necklace, seen at right. I wanted something that matched but didn't repeat the strong pattern of the leaf disk on the necklace, so toned it down with plain bronze disks and repeated the necklace's silver leaf. Topped with a beaded earwire, I think these earrings are very pretty and feminine.

Another Project on the Bench: Quick Fire Copper Clay

Bronze clay has been a quirky material with which to work. I have only used the commercial BronzClay, but am going to try Hadar Jacobson's new Quick Fire bronze and copper clays next. I am going to start with copper clay, which I have yet to do: Lisa's already used Hadar's older copper version. I will rework a pair of earrings sold a year ago at MQ; they resembled spoons although the design was taken from an African tribal rattle. The original pair was made with copper sheet cut and domed (left), with silver clay for the shafts, to which earwires were soldered.

The new pair is similar to the photo on the right. Interestingly it features a switch in construction: the copper will not be sheet but clay, and the shaft will not be clay but sterling wire. In this "sketch" I was unsuccessful drilling the hole at top because I didn't anneal first (had to explain that glitch). I will work the silver wire by hammer & sanding for an organic look--more pounding and working sterling wire, which I love to do. And using clay for the disk removes the need for etching, although that is not an unpleasant or difficult technique. If you look closely at the edges of the copper disk to the right, you can see the etched lines.

See my next blog entry for a picture of the shorter Leaf Drop earrings. Ciao and Happy New Year!

Friday, January 01, 2010

We would like to wish everyone a happy new year! It is my warmest wish that 2010 be a good year for us all. I'm not here to talk about resolutions because I haven't made any and I'm not a fan anyway. They tend to make me stress and feel guilty for not following through on them all. I would prefer to say that I will strive to be a better person and work hard at whatever I may do this year.

Shauna and I are both working on new designs and I wish I had something to show you today but the sketches are too rough at this point so that will have to wait until the next post.

For now, my intent was to wish all a happy new year! We'll be talking to you again very soon.

Welcome to the Alone Star Jewelry Blog!

Alone Star Jewelry is just another native Texan created by sisters Lisa Kirkeby and Shauna Sopel, born and bred in the state with the greatest shape in the union. Originally from Mansfield, our family moved down to Austin in 1966 and remained in central Texas for a couple of decades. Since then we have collectively lived and traveled in other parts of the state including the east Texas piney woods, the desert and mountain regions out west, down in the valley and across the coastal plains, and it’s from all these beautiful slices of our state that inspiration is born for many of the jewelry pieces. Both of us have families, jobs, homes, lots of fun and a big creative spirit that we aspire to reflect in each piece of jewelry. God bless Texas!